We’ve seen our fair share of Jeopardy! questions stumping all three contestants over the years, but everyone dropped the ball for an entire category in Thursday’s episode.
The final category of Thursday’s first Jeopardy! round was “Football,” and with time left on the clock Ryan—who had control of the buzzer—ran down each of the plays. Ryan didn’t appear to know much about football, so the other two contestants could’ve easily stepped in for an interception during any part of the round. But they were just as stumped, even as Alex Trebek set them up for an easy touchdown.
The longer the contestants stood there waiting for the buzzer to end the play, the louder the audience reacted when none of them responded. Five-and-out is not the most exciting way to end a round of Jeopardy!, but all of the contestants made it out with their money, and Trebek made the best of the lack of responses.
“If you guys ring in and get this one, I will die,” Trebek said after reading one of the questions.
And if Trebek’s snark wasn’t enough, the Jeopardy! Twitter account took an additional football swipe when posting a video of the deflating category.
Fun fact: Our contestants answered as many clues in this category as the @Browns had wins this season. pic.twitter.com/KMaR8otIHe
— Jeopardy! (@Jeopardy) February 2, 2018
H/T Reddit